Difficulty

When I created this development page I figured I would be posting short clips and summary of progress in the development of my game, but I had a conversation with my son this morning that makes me want to expand on that.

My son: Daddy I want to tell you a riddle.

Me: Okay buddy.

Him: This is going to be a hard one.

Me: Okay.

Him: Which way are there no bats? Left or Right

Me: Umm… right?

Him: Nope! Left.

Me: Why is it left?

Him: Because this is a hard riddle.

Besides being freaking hilarious, it presents an interesting perspective. In his eyes, when something is hard you can’t get it right or achieve it. In other words, difficulty is measured through failure which is very applicable to game design. If you are constantly able to progress through the game it will not feel very difficult. Only when you fail and have to improve to overcome the obstacle does it feel difficult. The repercussions of failure or means of improvement are a good topic for another time.